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Salzburger Volkszeitung - Salzburg - performance date April 13, 1976 |
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Disturbed
impression |
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Sacred music concert of the Easter Festival: Verdi's Requiem |
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English Translation © Maria Kozlova |
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One can justly call the
performance of Verdi's Requiem the culminating point of this year Easter
Festival. The result in itself was probably not the best, but in this
composition so close to his spirit, Herbert von Karajan undoubtedly regained
fascination and brilliance that faded a little in Lohengrin and the two
preceding concerts. Requiem became the culmination of the Festival's jubilee
celebrations and will sure be it again on Good Friday. This concert was
naturally compared with the summer performance, also under Karajan, but in
spite of all, the palm was carried off by the former. The interpretation of
music has not changed much. Requiem sounded stunning on Tuesday, with its
great dramatic effect, wonderful cantilenas, and powerful symbiosis of the
transcendental and the glistening external. The nerve of the music was
exposed. But those who still had
the summer performance in memory must have mourned a little for its
well-balanced quartette of soloists.The absolutely homogenous voice ensemble
of that time now broke down into four perfectly sung individual parts. The
voices did not form a single whole; they even "fought" sometimes.
Montserrat Caballe's warm and bright soprano expanded so much that she effortlessly
drowned her partners. Mirella Freni was not an unapproachable Padrona,
but a touchingly unaffected creature, her voice more flexible, clear and
heavenly, if you will. Fiorenza Cossotto's dramatic alto with the same
unprotected timbre was not an ideal contrast to Caballe, but her
interpretation of this part was probably the most true, natural and
impressive. Jose Carreras' too
young voice hardly showed its worth beside such mature "veterans",
which does not belittle,
however, the beauty of his wonderful dark-hued tenor. Jose van Dam cannot
rival with Ghiaurov in the volume of his bass, but he can very well compete with
him in the variety of accents, understanding of text and spiritual penetration. Van Dam
imbibed the monumental power of words specially written for a bass voice. His
interpretation in many places was like a well-regulated, serious and
thoughtful recitation. The unsurpassed sound and differentiation of words of
the Music Lovers Society choir was impressive, although in places they
sounded too emphatic and warlike. After the soprano's dying away Libera me the
impression was spoiled by applause that followed without any pause and had
quite an embarrassing effect. This time the maestro did not take action to
stop inappropriate ovation, and the only alternative for those who wanted to preserve
a bit of impression was to flee from the thundering hall. |
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